A summer writing retreat in St. Martins, a timeless New Brunswick fishing village
From the friendly, peaceful surroundings of St. Martins—a fishing village on the East Coast of Canada—to a trip back in time to Kings Landing Historical Settlement, and a journey through the lush, green hills and windswept beaches of two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, we and 16 other writers experienced some of the best of what our home province has to offer.
We enjoyed exclusive use of the St. Martins Inn, where we hosted private group readings on a couple of evenings during the retreat. Several of our participants had never shared their work aloud before joining us on retreat, and it was great to see the overwhelming support they received.
The average temperature in St. Martins in July is about 20°Celsius, or 68°Fahrenheit—the breeze off the Bay of Fundy keeps things cooler in the heat of summer, and sometimes there’s fog, too, which adds an air of mystery to the village and beaches and often burns off by lunchtime. We were blessed with balmy heat and cool evenings during our week-long stay and had our first group writing session on the Inn’s porch.
Our day trip along the Fundy Trail Parkway saw us head out by private coach for a spectacular afternoon. The Fundy Trail is one of the last remaining coastal wilderness areas between Florida and Labrador. Besides being part of two UNESCO designated sites, the Fundy Trail marks the beginning of the “Fundy Footpath,” one of the top 50 hiking trails in the world.
Later that afternoon, we returned for supper followed by our own private Maritime kitchen party with friends from The Seven 90s, a group of musicians who play a mix of Irish, Celtic, and Maritime music.
We also took a day’s leave from the village of St. Martins to explore the interior of the province, where we found ourselves at a 19th century historical re-enactment village—a living museum—called Kings Landing Historical Settlement.
While we were sad to say goodbye after our final Fare-Thee-Well breakfast, we did so knowing that we’d had a great week of writing and getting to know other like-minded souls along the way.